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Friday, June 24, 2011

Like some teenagers in high school, Bob Skudlarczyk (pronounced Skud-lar-check) started a band. Well, he talked about starting a band with a friend. They made plans and talked about other people joining. They gave the band the name, Plan Called Dead. Years went by and the band was never started, but it still comes up from time to time.

As an adult, Bob started helping local band, Of Her Blood, get a few shows. Having a few friends in the local scene, it turned out to be pretty easy setting it up. Through the band, he was asked to set up a show in Milwaukee for another band, Light This City. The show was a near disaster, due to the band breaking up about a week before the show and about $400 worth of damage to the venue. Unlike most normal people who would have chosen a different hobby, Bob decided he wanted to continue setting up shows.

What started as helping a few friends out has turned into a small business for Bob. When it came to naming his booking company, he chose to keep his band's name alive and went with PLANCALLEDDEADinc. Since starting in February of 2008, PLANCALLEDDEADinc. has booked shows for Carnifex, Oceano,

Young metalcore band, West of Worthy, is ready to take the scene by storm. Self-proclaimed performing addicts, the band is actively looking for shows to play hoping to rack up more experience and spread their music to as many ears as possible. When asked about the meaning behind the band's name, the band replied, "Sometimes, no matter what you do or how much you give, it's never worthy of the praise of society or whoever matters most in your life. Hence, West of Worthy."

The band comes from Mukwonago, WI, a suburb of the greater Milwaukee area. According to the band, the local music scene is "becoming pretty lively these days" and the band is getting support slowly, but surely. The band describes their music as aggresive and hardcore, laced with ambient guitar melodies and hard hitting breakdowns. The band doesn't label themselves as a christian band, but they have positive messages in their music that draws from the religion.

The band consists of Hunter Burris (guitar), Kevin Wysocki (drums), Brett Lackey (bass),David Coman (vocals) and David Woznicki (guitar). The band is influenced by As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, August Burns Read and Underoath.

Their upcoming EP, The Illusion of Depth, is filled with face-melting melodies, intense breakdowns and meaningful, postive messages in their lyrics. The EP was recorded at JTW Studios. "Recording at JTW was amazing. Joel, who runs the studio, is one of the most down to earth guys we know, and he knows what he's doing. We couldn't have gotten an EP that sounded this good from any other studio." Says the band.

The band hopes to play an inhuman amount of shows and an even larger amount of fans. They want to release a full-length later this year and hope to get signed.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Check out Still The Sky's new single off their upcoming album, Unity! Listen to Something Devious Is Upon Us on Youtube. Still The Sky is now sponsored by Dapnap Clothing! Follow the band on twitter @StillTheSky Like the Facebook Page!

To Breathe Among Giants bassist, Tim Gonzalez has quit the band. The band wishes to thank him for his time and wish him luck with his future. The band is now looking for a new bassist! Like the band on Facebook!

Finding Eden's new EP is very close to completion. According to the band's Facebook, the EP is in the final process of mixing and mastering. Check them out on Facebook and be ready for the EP.

After several problems, the band, A Journey to Fall, may or may not be broken up. The band's facebook said that they were no longer a band. It is still yet to be confirmed, but the band has dropped out of all summer shows.

Chase This City has released an album teaser on youtube! The teaser consists of clips from every song on the album! Check it out and like their facebook page!

Band, This Day And Age, Has postponed a new video due to Father's Day. Probably just an excuse, but the band will be releasing a video within the next few days.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Representing Chicago, IL, hardcore punk/thrash band, New Clear Threat doesn't quite fit in. With so many genres in the Chicago area and each with their own respective scenes, the lack of a pure, raw punk scene makes the band that much more interesting. "We have punk rock, but it's usually watered down to the point where it's almost embarrassing to call it punk.I guess that's true for most music nowadays though. We've never been a band about being in your face just for the f**k of it, but I think we do pride ourselves in being a bit louder or faster than people would like." Says band vocalist, Eric Williams.

The band, influenced by Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and other D.C. hardcore bands, has always been politically charged. Although they stay away from getting down to specifics, only occasionally mentioning issues by name, the band often criticizes politics in general. The band's sound has been compared to Suicidal Tendencies, Municipal Waste, and Exodus. "I think it's refreshing to be a band that is as hard as punk is supposed to be and metal enough that we're not just a bunch of punks. We're not doing anything new, but somehow I think we have a sound that can't easily be compared to any other band." Says Eric.

The band has been around since 2001, a lifetime when compared to the average unsigned band lifespan. When asked about what keeps the band motivated, Eric's reply was unexpected. "The band isn't motivated. I think that's what keeps us going. 10 years of working to make it big would be exhausting. 10 years of making music and having a good time is just that, good times.If we make it big, we'd like it to be because people like what we're doing. Not because we've successfully marketed ourselves."

With over 200 shows, the word 'experienced' would be an understatement. The band has played small locals shows, as well as, large shows, like the Chicago Peace Fest in 2010, with Genral Patton & His Privates, where over 600 people were in attendance. Most bands would find it hard to play small shows after playing a huge crowd, but the band had this to say, "The size of the show doesn't seem to make much of a difference. What really makes a good show is a crowd of any size that gives and takes just as much energy as we do."

The band will be at the Chicago Peace Fest Camp-Out in Elgin, IL on Friday, July 29th through Sundy, July 31st. They're currently recording a new EP that is due out in late July.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. and the greatest of these is love."

- 1 Corinthians 13:13

And The Greatest of These, metalcore band from Sioux City, made reference to this biblical passage when coming up with a band name because they believed that the passage encompassed their mission statement. "Love is the one thing the world could never have enough of and God Is the only everlasting source of this perfect Love. We want to do nothing but spread His Love." says the band.

In November 2009, Matthew Mika brought everyone together. Matthew was in an all-girl metal band (being the only exception) before it's demise. He brought on a few former band mates together to form the new band. In the beginning, the band had three female members which sometimes got them some extra attention. "It had been a draw for so many fans, to see and hear three girls on stage doing what they do and doing it very well. From Nichole's lead vocals to Katie's shredding, it was definitely a huge thing that set us apart. The time that this oddity really drew the crowd was at Cornerstone. Kids walking past our tent while Nichole was doing her sound check would hear the sweetest voice followed by a beastly low growl. However, Nichole and our bassist Erin have decided to leave to pursue other ministries, but we are still very supportive of them in every way we can be."

Although categorized in the metalcore genre, the band ranges in influences from Indie to experimental metal. The band tries to keep their own sound very original while exploring their full spectrum of influences. The band consistently tries to keep their music fresh, making sure their portfolio has a nice variety of sound in hopes that the listener will stay attentive and interested. The band is sometimes compared to For Today, War Of Ages, and In The Midst Of Lions.

The current band line-up consists of Matthew Mika (vocals), Katie Linder (guitar), Joel Ysselstein (drums), Wade Folkerts (guitar), and Chris Davenport (bass). The band has played nearly 90 shows, so it's safe to say that the band is no stranger to the stage. They try to stay away from too much choreography, using it only to get an effect they're aiming for. They aim to put on a great intense show that stands out from the rest. They feel that performing on stage is an opportunity to make a lasting impression on the listeners. In recent years, the local music support in Sioux City has been left a dim light as opposed to the bright one it was 5 years ago. In turn, the local shows are either hit or miss, so the band tries to tour as often as possible.

By the end of the summer, the band hopes to have accomplished three things. First and foremost, the band hopes to finish writing their album. "This album is already very close to our hearts. This will be a concept album over the beatitudes found in the book of Matthew [in the Bible]. It has been such a learning experience for us to learn about and incorporate everything those verses have to teach us about everyday life. You can expect an emotional album with lyrics you'll really need to delve into, while still keeping your blood pumping."

Second, the band will be touring June and July while also hitting up their favorite music festivals including Cornerstone and Sonshine. Last and certainly not least, the band hopes to get the album laid down with famed producer and engineer, Jaime King. As far as long-term plans go, the band hopes to get signed by a quality label that can provide them all the necessary resources for them to continue doing what they do and Love while being able to afford to continue touring, living and eating,. Most importantly, the band hopes to find a label that will continue connecting them with their fans and helping building real and lasting relationships with their supporters.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Imagine this, the band Slipknot is driving down a busy road blasting The Misfits on their way to a Motley Crue concert. They are coming from seeing a George Romero zombie movie and the car crashes. That's how the death metal/punk band from Milwaukee, Put Her In The Trunk, describes their sound. "(We're) heavy and pissed off, with some punk elements and a few breakdowns." adds the band.

The name, Put Her In The Trunk, came from a conversation between band guitarist, Jon Brem, and a friend at a bar. When the band was brainstorming for a band name, the conversation was brought up and the rest is history. It helped that the band was having little luck finding a name that had not been used yet.

The band formed when the band Floating Face Down broke up. Brothers Jon and Doug Brem and their former bandmate, Scott Sweet wanted to continue making music together. The band then recruited Dan Kubinski of Die Kreuzen and Decapitado and started writing. The band went on without a singer. When the time came and the band wanted to put music online, they still didn't have a singer, so they turned to cookie monster.

"We didn't want to put up an instrumental song, so we used a cookie monster toy for vocals. It turned out pretty cool and the cookie monster thing stuck with us for quite awhile. We (even) have some shirts with him on it." says the band. When Matt Schmitz, of Sleestak, joined the band, they started playing shows.

Matt was a huge fan of horror films, like Doug, and their first CD, Guinea Pig, was based on four seperate japanese torture/horror movies. After Matt's departure, the lyrics got more violent and the band ditched the movie themes (but kept a few references). The band's overall influences range from death metal to The Beatles, giving the band an "anything goes" pass. The band tries to stay heavy, but they make sure that they have just as much fun as the listener.

The band is very proud to say that Kane Hodder, actor who played Jason Vorhees in Friday The 13th 7, 8, 9, and 10, is a fan of the band. Doug, being a huge horror film fan, often goes to horror film conventions where he met Kane on several occasions. Doug gave him several band t-shirts and the actor once told him that he enjoyed the stares that people gave him for wearing the shirts. Coincidentally, one of the band t-shirt designs has the mask Kane wore in Jason goes to Hell.

"Devil's Experiment", the song by the band is featured in the film, Brutal, directed by Nuna Minch. The band also has songs pending in upcoming indie horror films Night Of The Living Dead 2012, Midsummer Nightmares, and possibly, The Zombie Movie. They accomplished this feat, again, through Doug.

"I give our CD's to indie movie directors at conventions. I'm constantly looking for new independant horror flicks to watch. I have some friends that act in indie horror films. I'm a horror film junkie." Says Doug. "When people see your stuff at lots of conventions and online, the word spreads. We never get paid for any of it, but thats not why we do it. When you watch a movie, and hear your song play during a scene, thats payment enough for me"

Check out the band who has stayed alive in an overcrowded scene on Facebook and check out their latest release, They're Coming To Get You.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Pop stars and gangster rappers move aside, Darian 'D-Lock' Lockhart is a force to be reckoned with. The young rapper's lyrics are not only about life experiences, but they also touch base on topics that everyone can relate to. D-Lock's passion for making music started back in 2005. Soon after, he put the mic down. After a long hiatus to focus on his personal life he returned to his first love, music, in 2009 and hasn't let up since.

D-Lock is currently working on a few projects including his own mixtape, Thank God I'm The Sh*t, and a full-length with his group, The Smoovefellaz, entitled, Under The Influence. The Smoovefellaz, according to D-Lock, is a group of rappers that share the same goal, helping Rockford gain proper respect. The group has an impressive local following in Rockford and they hope to expand throughout the Midwest and beyond.

D-Lock recently started battle rapping in the Midwest Battlefest league. His first battle was against Infancy and although he didn't win the battle, D-Lock considered it a success. "It gave me the confidence I needed, to know I can go up against anybody and hold my own." Says the rapper.

With the Thank God I'm The Sh*t mixtape, set to be released towards the end of the summer, and the upcoming Smoovefellaz album, Under the Influence, set to be released later this month, D-Lock hopes to put both himself and The Smoovefellaz on the map and gain the recognition he feels they deserve.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Jake, formerly of In The Year of The Plague, is now formerly of In The Year of The Plague. Jake left the band on his own accord and there are no harsh feelings between any of the members about his departure. they will not replace him and Preston will step up as vocalist. Good luck to the band!

Randy Baily has just joined up with Witness the Burning as the band's new drummer. This is his first serious band and he has been a close friend of the band for years. Due to this recent change, the band has changed up a bit and has incorporated a little more hardcore into their music. They plan to record a new EP within the next 2 months!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

In March of '09, in Marengo, IL, 30 miles east of Rockford, five Chicago-loving musicians came together and started the Pop-punk rock band, Chase This City. The city, of course, being Chicago. At least, that's what the band's name meant at first. "It originally stemmed from our mutual love for the city of Chicago, but over the course of the (last) two years we’ve been a band, it’s grown to mean more. It’s really about how we’re always striving to become bigger and improve ourselves, because that’s what being in a band is about. If you’re not constantly moving forward, there’s no point. You have to always be chasing it." Says the band.

The band went to Marengo High School at different times, Zach and Joe were good friends throughout High School and it wasn't uncommon to find them jamming together in different projects. Wil, Chris and original drummer, Kieran played in previous projects together, as well. It wasn't until Zach and Kieran went to a Four Year Strong show together that the band formed.

6 Months ago, Jeff joined the group after Kieran left. Jeff had been in previous projects with Zach and also knew the other members in the band so the transition was fairly easy.

The band considers itself energetic, passionate, relentless and fun. Having grown up in the 90's and early 2000's, the band grew up listening to old Drive-Thru era Pop-punk including The Starting Line, New Found Glory, The Early November, Finch, and Midtown. Often times, the band is described as a mix between Hit The Lights and A Day A To Remember. The band considers it a compliment.

When asked to describe their lyrical content and song themes, the band replied "We try our best to write all our lyrics about things that everyone can relate to – growing up, getting fucked over, getting over getting fucked over, relationships, friendships, feeling good, feeling bad. Pretty fundamental stuff that everyone can think about and say to themselves, ‘Hey, I know what that’s like’. That’s our main goal, lyrically. If we can do that every time someone listens to our music or sees us play, then we’re happy."

In March 2010, the band recorded at 37 Studios in Rochester Hills, Michigan with their good friend Matt Dalton, a talented guy who has recorded bands like The Swellers, Red I Flight, Craig Owens and I See Stars. The band set out to establish themselves as a serious pop-punk band in the local and regional scene. "Since this was our first release, we really didn’t expect to explode from it right away" says the band. "Tuxedo Lazertag (the first song on the EP) is probably our most popular song to date, and we released a music video for it this past December. It’s got about five or six thousand hits on Youtube, which I think is pretty decent for a band from a town you can’t even see on a map."

Their new six-song EP, All That's On Your Mind, will be released in Physical CD format, as well as digitally in Late July/early August. The band is in talks of a huge CD Release show around August, possibly August 6th. "We’ll be doing some weekend regional tours, as well as hopping on a couple Midwest dates with Freshman 15 and City Lights in July. Other than that, expect everything else we do to be pretty big. This is a big summer for us."

The band spoke to Uncharted about their new EP.

"It’s called All That’s on Your Mind, and it has six songs, and they all kick so much more ass than any of the songs on the last album. Think of this as our ‘in-it-to-win-it’ release. We’re done sitting around and waiting for things to happen. We’re ready to make them happen and we’re ready to take everyone with us, and I think this EP will show people that. It’s different in a few pretty significant ways.

First and foremost, Jeff’s playing drums instead of Kieran.His drumming has definitely influenced our music as a whole for the better, and I think that’s evident in these new songs.

Second, the mix has drastically improved from that of the last EP. With The World on Our Side, I think a lot of people thought the drums were over produced and the mix sounded too hollow. With this record, we wanted to keep it as organic as we possibly could, which results in a much more in-your-face and dynamic sound. Everyone that complained about the mix on the last record will be satisfied with this one, that’s for sure.

Third, the songs themselves are more mature, polished, and just well-written in general. We’ve grown up a lot since the last EP, and a lot of things have changed in our lives. We have better heads on our shoulders, and we’re more professional and ready to take on whatever this industry brings our way, and it shows in the new record for sure."

The band is reaching for the stars and will be busy pushing and promoting their EP! Like the band on Facebook!

~joeEFFINGmayo

A message from Zach Keenum:

"We just signed with White Couch Productions as our general manager and booking agent. George Medic is one of the most beautiful men we know, and he works his ass off for the local scene. Everyone should check out his clothing company White Couch Clothing, and pick up some t-shirts. Nearlyevery national band that comes through Illinois books the dates through him. Come to White Couch shows, buy some shirts, buy All That’s on Your Mind when it comes out, and come say hi to us on Facebook!" -Zach

An Hero, a metalcore band from Warren, IL takes it's name from the act of suicide for petty reasons. Although the name holds a dark connotation, the band is far from depressing. In October of 2010, five guys came together to rock and have fun, the band forming was kind of unexpected. Three of the five members are from Warren, a small town in Illinois, less than a mile from the IL/WI state line. The other two members are from Lena, IL, about twelve miles southeast of Warren.

With nothing to do, the band set out to play shows all over the area. Most recently, the band played Pajama Jam in Apple River, IL, where they debuted three new songs. The event, coincidentally put together by An Hero vocalist, TJ Davis, had a decent turnout and had other local bands Still The Sky and In The Year of The Plague playing, as well.

Being fans of A Day To Remember, August Burns Red and Parkway Drive, the members of An Hero decided on the metalcore genre. Althought metalcore in spirit, the band often times doesn't know how to label their sound. Sometimes, during show performances, Tj Davis will drop the mic and join the moshing taking place in the crowds. The rest of the band is a bit more timid, but make good use of their rock boxes.